1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a straddle-type electric vehicle including an electric motor as a drive source.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electric motorcycle which uses an electric motor as a drive source includes a receptacle for charging a battery. When the battery is charged, a plug which is provided at an end portion of a cable which extends from a charger is connected to the receptacle.
As an electric motorcycle of this type, there is a known electric motorcycle in which a receptacle for charging the battery is provided within an accommodation box provided below a seat surface and covered by a side cover (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-63066).
Further, recently, numerous charging stations for charging electric cars have been built. A charging station is provided with a gun-type plug including a plug portion, to which the receptacle of the electric car is connected, and a grip portion (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H07-201408).
Between the gun-type plug and the receptacle, it is necessary to connect plural electric wires, such as cathodes, anodes, and control signal lines. The gun-type plug is designed so that the gun-type plug is not connected with the receptacle unless a rotational position about an insertion/drawing direction of the plug matches a predetermined rotational position. Once the user grips the grip portion, the user can easily change a direction of the gun-type plug freely and easily to match the mutual rotational positions. After the rotational positions are matched with each other, by inserting the gun-type plug therein and leaving its posture as it is, the gun-type plug is electrically connected with the receptacle. Thus, the gun-type plug is easily connected.
Accordingly, it is conceivable to use the gun-type plug which is easy to connect to the electric motorcycle.
However, the receptacle of the electric motorcycle is provided at a position lower than the receptacle of an electric car. Therefore, during charging, the charging plug is left in a state in which the plug is connected with the receptacle at a lower position on the vehicle. The charging time is more than 30 minutes, and if the charging plug is located at the lower position, a user of another vehicle may overlook the charging plug and may contact the charging plug unintentionally, for example.